Ladies' Literary Club

{{about||the building in Ypsilanti, Michigan |Ladies' Literary Club Building|the building in Salt Lake City, Utah |Ladies Literary Club Clubhouse}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Ladies' Literary Club

| nrhp_type =

| image = LadiesLiteraryClubGrandRapidsMI.jpg

| caption =

| location= 61 Sheldon St., SE., Grand Rapids, Michigan

| coordinates = {{coord|42|57|45|N|85|40|01|W|region:US_type:landmark|name=Ladies' Literary Club|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin =

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-marker = building

| mapframe-zoom = 13

| mapframe-caption = Interactive map

| built = {{Start date|1887}}

| architect = William G. Robinson

| architecture = Romanesque, Richardsonian Romanesque

| added = October 26, 1971

| area = less than one acre

| refnum = 71000400{{NRISref|version=2013a}}

}}

The Ladies' Literary Club also known as Wednesday Literary Club{{Cite web|url=http://www.carmelclayhistory.org/carmel-library|title = Carmel Library | Carmel Clay Historical Society}} was built as a social club building located at 61 Sheldon Street SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. As of 2019, the building is being renovated into a social event space known as The Lit.

History

In 1869, a group of Grand Rapids women organized a small history class. In 1870, this grew into the Ladies' Literary Association, which was formally organized as an association that year. The Association was influential in opening a public library in the city. In 1882, the group was re-incorporated at the Ladies' Literary Club to promote literary and scientific subjects. The club grew, and in 1887 they decided to construct their own building. The Club purchased a lot and hired local architect William G. Robinson to design a clubhouse. Ground was broken in 1887, and construction was completed by December of that year. Major additions and renovations were completed in 1931.{{citation |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/25339726 |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ladies' Literary Club | publisher=National Park Service |author=Constance Henslee |series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Michigan, 1964 - 2013 |date=May 11, 1971 }}

Major additions and renovations were completed in 1931. In 2005, the club disbanded due to declining membership. In 2006, the remaining members transferred ownership of the building to Calvin College, which made $1 million worth of improvements to the building. The college used the building as a music, theater and entertainment venue. However, in 2014, they decided to sell the building.{{cite news | title = Why Calvin College is selling historic Ladies Literary Club of Grand Rapids | date = November 12, 2014 | author = Brian McVicar | newspaper = MLive | url = https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2014/11/why_calvin_college_is_selling.html}} In 2018, a group of investors purchased the building with the intention of renovating it to become The Lit event space.{{cite news | title = Historic downtown building becoming event space | date = July 4, 2019| author = Justin Dawes | newspaper =Grand Rapids Business Journal | url = https://www.grbj.com/articles/93748-historic-downtown-building-becoming-event-space}}

Over the years, the club has hosted speeches by Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.

Description

The Ladies' Literary Club is a two-story brick structure with a tall single-story wing attached to the rear housing an auditorium. Bluestone trim is used around the doors and windows, and it has a slate roof. Although the building is substantially brick rather than stone, the design exhibits the massive Richardsonian Romanesque style. The building has French plane and stained glass windows. This includes a Tiffany glass window appraised at $225,000.

Notable people

Loraine Immen, president, Ladies' Literary Club (1890){{cite book |last1=Willard |first1=Frances Elizabeth |author1-link=Frances Willard |last2=Livermore |first2=Mary Ashton Rice |author2-link=Mary Livermore |title=A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life |year=1893 |publisher=Charles Wells Moulton |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Woman_of_the_Century/Loraine_Immen |pages=409–10 |chapter=IMMEN, Mrs. Loraine }} {{Source-attribution}}

Ladies' Literary Club

History

Description

Notable people

References

Further reading